In a duplex loft in Manhattan, designer Francine Gardner used unusual accessories to give earth-toned rooms plenty of personality.

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I'm not a color person," says New York City interior designer Francine Gardner. "I prefer neutrals—tans, white, beiges and browns."

Fortunately, the owner of this duplex loft in SoHo, an investment banker who bought the place as a bachelor two years ago and recently married, feels exactly the same way. And so, while he wanted his home to be one-of-a-kind, he told Gardner when he hired her, its personality should come from form and texture, not color and clutter.

"Rather than make color the central focus, as it is in many apartments," he says, "I wanted the space and the pieces themselves to be the focal point."

To accommodate that desire, Gardner chose pieces with standout shapes and materials, juxtaposing hard edges with soft curves, natural materials with manmade ones. "The palette is neutral," says the designer, "but it is very warm, and I introduced beautiful rich woods to break the modernity." Refined custom built-ins play against the pronounced grain of the wide-plank flooring.

In the living room, floor lamps designed by José Esteves for Interieurs, Gardner's TriBeCa store, marry the curvilinear form of a traditional brass chandelier with the industrial edge of an aluminum mesh lampshade. Window treatments are simple but gauzy, for a softer modern look. And one-of-a-kind undulating benches from France (made of kamagong, a hard, dense fruitwood found only in the Philippines) offer textural contrast to cushy sofas and chairs that are upholstered in cream and brown, respectively.

"The living room is the first thing you see when you walk into the apartment," says Gardner, "so I wanted to make the contrast a bit more dramatic than it is in other parts of the home."

Photo: Michael GrimmIn the master bedroom, Gardner stuck to an almost monochromatic palette, creating drama and interest with a wide variety of textiles and textures, including custom handloomed coverlets and pillows, all of which the client not only saw but felt before approving them. "Having him touch every single fabric sample was a very important part of the process," says Gardner, "because the way a person responds to different textures is visceral, and very individual."

The custom-designed upholstered bed is set against an expanse of solid oak. "For a different client, I might have done a huge fourposter bed in here to take advantage of the height," says Gardner, "but this man is not a four-poster kind of person. You have to understand who your client is and design for him."

Designing for this particular client meant placing a flat-screen TV right across from the bed and accommodating some serious stereo speakers, as well as finding a desk that was comfortable but did not overpower the space, because the homeowner chose not to convert any of the apartment's three other bedrooms into a home office. Gardner gave a Modénature Arche desk a custom finish and paired it with a suede-covered Charlotte bridge chair from the same line.

"Having extra bedrooms will allow for future family," says the newlywed, "and for now, it gives us room for visitors. And when you close the door to the master bedroom, it becomes its own studio apartment, a smaller, intimate space within a larger apartment."

Photo: Michael GrimmAlthough he appreciates the intimacy of the master suite, the homeowner also wanted some larger spaces in which he could entertain—both indoors and out. With this in mind, Gardner turned the entire top floor of the duplex into a comfortable media room, with a Sydney sofa from First Time, a bar and an open space in which her client can play his collection of electric guitars.

"Francine and I spent a lot of time discussing how I would use the space," he says. "And as a result, the floor plan really matches the way my wife and I now live."

Beyond sliding glass doors, the rooftop deck has already been the site of several large parties, and sees frequent dinners à deux.

"A lot of New Yorkers have terraces but never use them," says Gardner. "An important part of this project was understanding that this homeowner really did want to use this space."

To accommodate him as stylishly and comfortably as possible, she chose all-weather seating in geometric forms that echo the lines of the dramatic steel beams just in sight of the deck. And while high-quality outdoor fabrics are now available in colors and patterns galore, Gardner stuck with natural canvas cushions so that the skyline and the surroundings could take center stage, as the homeowner wished.

"I like the large space that opens to the sky," he says, "but without the typical cityscape views. You are transported to another place when you are there. You know the city is there, but you can forget about it, too."

What the Pros Know
Personal style is not all about accessories. While conventional wisdom holds that the best way to personalize a space is with lots of mementos, Francine Gardner, whose personal aesthetic embodies sophisticated restraint, prefers to take another tack: "When you have too many things around," she suggests, "you never really notice any of them. I much prefer to edit down until there are just a few—very few—objects that are really beautiful and special for the homeowner." While Gardner shops for objects and art all over the world, she will sell a client only something that he or she is absolutely excited about. "If not," she says, "I put it in my store, so that it can go home with someone who will really feel a personal connection." She looks for that same visceral connection to textures and fabrics, attempting to identify individual tactile as well as visual preferences. "To really make this space personal for my client," she says, "I had him touch every fabric, every finish and every piece of furniture, to see how he responded to it."